Sox trade Mayer to Giants for Erik Miller

[Jasonbay44]

 

[SellySox]

Probably a lot lower than what we thought Mayer was going to go for a year ago, but Miller is an absolute unit. 
 

Similar build to Tolle. 
 

Breslow pushing the chips in to go for it right now.  

[Duran Is The Man]

i'm glad Mayer is gone. he'll be driving a concrete truck in a few years. count on it.

[SoxPhan]

😅 

[mvp 78]

Traded for a reliever. Ouch. No matter how good Miller is, that’s a steep drop in valuation from the Sox in about 6 months.

[moonslav59]

Miller has walked 80 batters in 130 career IP.

Good thing he's allowed just 97 hits (9 HRs) or he'd really suck.

Career 3.05 ERA for the lefty with a 3.66 FIP.

2026: 2.76/3.34 but 6.1 BB/9. The 12.4 K/9 is nice.

Miller has 3 arbs left.

[Nick]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Miller has walked 80 batters in 130 career IP.

Good thing he's allowed just 97 hits (9 HRs) or he'd really suck.

Career 3.05 ERA for the lefty with a 3.66 FIP.

2026: 2.76/3.34 but 6.1 BB/9. The 12.4 K/9 is nice.

Miller has 3 arbs left.

I love this trade. Chapman has struggled with his control in the past. Maybe Miller can improve on his walk rate. We have three and a half years of control left.

It's obvious Arias is our future shortstop. Hats off to Breslow. Decisive. For a minute I thought DD was back on our payroll.

[harmony]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Traded for a reliever. Ouch. No matter how good Miller is, that’s a steep drop in valuation from the Sox in about 6 months.

The Red Sox almost certainly traded Marcelo Mayer for today's best offer.

The issue for the front office may have been whether Mayer's trade value was likely to rise in the future. The trade suggests that the baseball execs were betting against an elevated future value.

[Behindenemylines]

3 hours ago, SellySox said:

Probably a lot lower than what we thought Mayer was going to go for a year ago, but Miller is an absolute unit. 
 

Similar build to Tolle. 
 

Breslow pushing the chips in to go for it right now.  

Yes, he made a very good bullpen even better picking up Miller. An Arias has passed Mayer as the Sox SS of the future.

[vegasbob]

Pure speculation but that what this site often contains:   Breslow traded Mayer for three primary reasons and a couple secondary thoughts.

1. Logjam in the infield , where Mayer would likely have to have been sent back to Worcester when IKF returns

   The 26 and 40 is crowded with infielders

2. The analysts decided that Mayer had shown enough that he does not have enough upside potential to warrant keeping .   His durability factor has always been a question.  He did not show a power bat , although the stress reaction ( hairline crack) in the arm may have held him back.

3. A part of the decision to move Marcelo relates to his influence on Anthony.  There is enough smoke around the duo's off field time around Boston to speculate that Breslow wanted Mayer out of the picture when Anthony returns. 

3.5  There is a need for a LH reliever in the BP

Not concerned at this time about him being gone.

[notin]

1 hour ago, vegasbob said:

 

3. A part of the decision to move Marcelo relates to his influence on Anthony.  There is enough smoke around the duo's off field time around Boston to speculate that Breslow wanted Mayer out of the picture when Anthony returns. 

 

So Mayer got Willoughby’d?

[Old Red]

1 hour ago, vegasbob said:

Pure speculation but that what this site often contains:   Breslow traded Mayer for three primary reasons and a couple secondary thoughts.

1. Logjam in the infield , where Mayer would likely have to have been sent back to Worcester when IKF returns

   The 26 and 40 is crowded with infielders

2. The analysts decided that Mayer had shown enough that he does not have enough upside potential to warrant keeping .   His durability factor has always been a question.  He did not show a power bat , although the stress reaction ( hairline crack) in the arm may have held him back.

3. A part of the decision to move Marcelo relates to his influence on Anthony.  There is enough smoke around the duo's off field time around Boston to speculate that Breslow wanted Mayer out of the picture when Anthony returns. 

3.5  There is a need for a LH reliever in the BP

Not concerned at this time about him being gone.

Probably more right than wrong on this.

[JoeBrady]

1 hour ago, vegasbob said:

3.5  There is a need for a LH reliever in the BP

It's a shocking fall from grace.  I was perfectly fine with getting rid of him.  But I thought someone else would've topped this offer.

[JoeBrady]

I also wouldn't sleep on Gutierrez.  He seems like a poor man's Abreu.  9 HRs in 299 ABs, in A+, good K/W, and some speed.  And I always get the impression that Mexican prospects are on the low-end of the scouting focus compared to the DR, Venezuela, etc.

[Randy Red Sox]

52 minutes ago, notin said:

So Mayer got Willoughby’d?

is Anthony even going to return this yr?

 

[Randy Red Sox]

5 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Miller has walked 80 batters in 130 career IP.

Good thing he's allowed just 97 hits (9 HRs) or he'd really suck.

Career 3.05 ERA for the lefty with a 3.66 FIP.

2026: 2.76/3.34 but 6.1 BB/9. The 12.4 K/9 is nice.

Miller has 3 arbs left.

that is a good thing for sure

[moonslav59]

They bet Mayer could or would not build back value even in AAA.

Miller may not be an improvement at all, but it doesn't hurt to add an arm. To me, guys like Miller are often found on the waiver wire. He's like T Guerrero or maybe D Hern.

[Randy Red Sox]

5 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Traded for a reliever. Ouch. No matter how good Miller is, that’s a steep drop in valuation from the Sox in about 6 months.

for a guy rated as the #1 guy in his draft class who fell to the Sox at 4

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

is Anthony even going to return this yr?

 

At least he started swinging.

[SoxPhan]

2 hours ago, vegasbob said:

3. A part of the decision to move Marcelo relates to his influence on Anthony.  There is enough smoke around the duo's off field time around Boston to speculate that Breslow wanted Mayer out of the picture when Anthony returns. 

Ooh, I didn't know this tea. 

[JoeBrady]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

They bet Mayer could or would not build back value even in AAA.

Miller may not be an improvement at all, but it doesn't hurt to add an arm. To me, guys like Miller are often found on the waiver wire. He's like T Guerrero or maybe D Hern.

I think T is a good comp.  I looked at his Statcast page and it is saturated with deep red, except, of course, the deep blue BB%.  I think it's a pretty good package; just kind of a shock to the system.

[notin]

41 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

for a guy rated as the #1 guy in his draft class who fell to the Sox at 4

The fellows who went 1, 2, and 3 really haven’t been much better…

[Hugh2]

It's always tough selling low on a guy, the criticism comes when the trigger is pulled.  It's like investing in stocks, when stock xyz falls you start thinking about selling, but you want to hold onto it because you're emotionally tied in, you don't want to sell low and you keep thinking it's going to go back up.  Could Mayer turn into the player we once thought he could be? absolutely, he could also continue to fall in value and never be a regular MLBer.  The fact is they pulled the trigger when they pulled the trigger. We can sit here and criticize them all day, the reality is when you hold onto guys for a long time some are going to crash in value and you're going to look bad for not selling high, while others are going to shatter their value and make you look good for not trading them.  Mayer looks bad, holding onto Tolle right now looks good.  That's just the way it is. 

If Erik Miller because the next pitcher they bring in and retool into a serious bullpen weapon the trade looks a lot better, and he has the underlying talent to be that guy.  His stuff is elite, his statcast page is red and red, but he walks guys, a LOT of guys. I feel like we've heard this one before? team gets guy with great stuff but can't hone it in.  It's a gamble, you win some and you lose some.  Time will tell. 

[Hugh2]

 

Maybe he was traded for to strike Ohtani out during the world series. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Trading Mayer frees up an infield spot for the return of Story and/or IKF to SS -- or 2B -- plus, makes room for a possible late Mead comeback or Arias call-up. The latter playing 2B in Woo just makes him more versatile for wherever and whenever the Sox need him.

Monasterio, Seigler and Sogard remain utility fill-ins. They are a big part of Boston's resurgence... which began with Mayer's absence. And maybe that wasn't a coincidence...

... think of the signs that weren't quite distasteful but just didn't taste right: Cora calling Mayer out in ST, the CarShield commercial, the hip thrust double, even exiling the rehabbing Anthony to FLA 1,500 miles away from his bench buddy. 

The front office deemed that Mayer needed to go for some reason (and don't say they couldn't swap someone else for a lefty reliever from the Guy Ants). As for posters surprised or irritated that Duran is still here, recall that some acknowledged he's popular in the clubhouse; chemistry matters.

 

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Trading Mayer frees up an infield spot for the return of Story and/or IKF to SS -- or 2B -- plus, makes room for a possible late Mead comeback or Arias call-up. The latter playing 2B in Woo just makes him more versatile for wherever and whenever the Sox need him.

Mayer had options. I'm thinking we should have let him build some value back.

We still are far from set at SS going forward. Mead looks to have 2B locked up when he returns, but he could also DH or play 1B, when Contreras moves on. Our 3B depth is not great, but the rise of Monasterio & Seigler have improved that outlook. 

It seems we put our eggs in the Arias basket. That's fine with me, but keeping Mayer for a few more months or a year was not going to cause roster issues, IMO. I'd prefer him over Story, if it came to a choice.

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Mayer had options. I'm thinking we should have let him build some value back.

We still are far from set at SS going forward. Mead looks to have 2B locked up when he returns, but he could also DH or play 1B, when Contreras moves on. Our 3B depth is not great, but the rise of Monasterio & Seigler have improved that outlook. 

It seems we put our eggs in the Arias basket. That's fine with me, but keeping Mayer for a few more months or a year was not going to cause roster issues, IMO. I'd prefer him over Story, if it came to a choice.

I think more than anything Mayer had worn out his welcome both on, and off the field.

[Old Red]

8 hours ago, notin said:

The fellows who went 1, 2, and 3 really haven’t been much better…

Are you saying that rankings aren’t all their cracked up to be?

[mvp 78]

Didn't want to put him in a trade for Marte last offseason. LH reliever at the deadline? Ok! 

I know there were work ethic complaints and his bat wasn't ready, but man... 

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Didn't want to put him in a trade for Marte last offseason. LH reliever at the deadline? Ok! 

I know there were work ethic complaints and his bat wasn't ready, but man... 

like I said earlier I think he had just worn out his welcome finally as he had with Cora earlier.